Process of manufacturing gaseous fuel



4GAsEous FUEL.

' Patented May 4, 1920,

1.-R.'ROSE'.

PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING fa mi .a T oo...

'gases of the CH4. an'd C6 UNrrEn 'STATES PATENT orFIcE." r

JAMES n. nosa, or EDGEWORTH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING GASEOUS FUEL.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. RosE, a citizen of the 'United States, residing at Edgeworth, in 'the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Manufacturing Gaseous Fuel, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. v

This invention relates to a process of producing gaseous fuel and more especially for the production of a gaseous fuel which is particularly adapted foruse in connection with the cutting vand welding art and which is known to the trade under the name of carbo-hydrogen. ThisI gas, as usually em` ployed in such art, contalnsapproximately 85 per cent.` of hydrogep and 15 per cent. of hydrocarbons of high heatiplg value, such as 6 series. It is the general object of my invention to produce a gaseous fuel f' the character referred to in a particularly'eficient and economical manner.

In the drawing forming part hereof the figure represents a central sectional view through the apparatus' (shown as an elec-.

trical furnace), together with the necessary connections for realizing the process.

In the aforesaid drawing, 1 represents a.

l wall of refractory material, capable of withment of an electric arc.'

standing the temperature due to the employ- The heating, dissociating and combining chamber, indicated at 2, is preferably horizontal Vand circular in cross section, the lower end of said chamber being provided with va discharge opening 3 for the gaseous fuel and the carbon resulting from the dissociation of the gas-v within the said. chamber. The outlet 3 communicates with a chamber 4 having a butterfly 'valvev at the bottom thereof and provided above such bottom with an outlet connection 6 leading to a suitable receptacle for the gaseous fuel produced in the'chamby the insulating bushing 11. 12 and 13 de-A note electrical conductors connected respec-b Speeication of Letters Patent.

Y the electrodes. This connection will be provided W'ith a suitablel conduit 18 having a valve 1 9 therein. l

With the parts constructed and 'arrangedas described, a hydrocarbon, preferably methane or natural gas, is supplied through the conduit 14' and the hollow 'electrode 9 tothe space betweenthe said electrode and the negative Aelectrode 10. In its passage through the hollow carbon, the gas is partly dissociated and is further dissociated, broken up and recombined in the arc between the electrode and in the space surrounding the same. By merely regulating the rateV of delivery of the hydrocarbon through the conduit 14 and the hollow carbon 9, the composition of the resultantlg'as may be kept within any desired limit. For instance, with a temperature of iabout 20000 I". in the chamber 2, a gas containing approximately 85 per cent. hydrogen and 1-5 per cent.

' of the other hydro-carbons of high heating value referred to herein will be produced.4

other hydrocarbon will be produced in the resultant gas. By reducing the rate of delivery -of hydrocarbon'through the conduit 14 a higher proportion of hydrogen will be obtained in the resultant gas; in fact, by sufficiently reducing the supply of hydrocarbon through the conduit, substantially pure hydrogen may be obtained.

y ratentea'iviaya,192o. Application led April 25, 1918. SerialvNo. 230,772.

The dissociation of the methane or other` hydrocarbon supplied through the conduit 14 will result in the liberation of free carbon.

This free carbon is'in a finely divided state and may be employed to advantage in various arts, lbeing collected in the chamber 4 and removed from time to time by opening thevalve.

It will be understood that the generator or furnace is hermetically sealed during its operation so that the process is conducted in the absence of oxygen .from the atmosphere; this/enables the carbon electrodes 9 and 10 to last for an indefinite period, requiringl onlyA occasional replacement.

ving thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The process which comprises introducing an aeriform hydrocarbon fluid into a generator heatedby an electricarc and subjecting the fluid to the temperature pro# duced by said arc, thereby to dissociatesuch fluid into solid carbon a'nd a gas contain-- -preponderating proportion of hydrogen.

t `3. The process which comprises introduclng natural gas into a generator heated by an electric arc and subjecting vsuch gas tol the temperature produced by said arc, there- Lasagna 'by to dissociate the gas into solid carbon and a gas of high heating value containingv a.

preponderating proportion of hydrogen.

4.`The process of producing gaseous fuel which consists in conducting hydrocarbon into a furnace heated by an electric arc and subjecting such hydrocarbon to the temperature in and about said arc, whereby theV hydrocarbon is dissociated, .thereby to produce a gaseous fuel having a relatively high hydrogen content anda relatively low carbon content.

5. The process of producing gaseous fuel which consists in conducting hydrocarbon through a hollow positive carbon electrode into the arc between said electrode and a. negative electrode, whereby the gas is dissociated in its passage through such positive electrode and in and about said arc thereby to produce a gaseous fuel having a relatively high hydrogen contentand a relatively low carbon content.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailx vmy signature. A Y Y.

.. JAMES R. RosE. 

